Glass-melting furnace.



No. 757,666.' PATENTBD APR. 19, 1904.

M. M. MAHEB.. GLASS MELTING FURNAGE.

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GLASS MELTING FURNAGE.

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GLASS MBL'T'ING FURNAGE.V

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Patented April 19, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT Ormes.

MICHAEL M. MAHER, OF KITTANNING, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TOROBERT BARNER AND J. C. VVOODVARD, OF KIT- TANNING, PENNSYLVANIA.

GLASS-M ELTING. FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,666, dated April19, 1904.

' Application led September 22, 1902. Serial No. 124,327. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern,.-

Be it known that LMIGHAEL M. MAHER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kittanning, in the county of Armstrong and` State ofPennsylvania, `have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGlass-Melting Furnaces, of which the following is a specication,reference being had therein to the 'accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to that class of glassmelting furnaces adapted toinclose portable pots in which glass for casting into plates or sheetsis melted and refined; and the primary object is to provide foruniformcirculation of the heat throughout all portions of the furnace, and,further, to provide means for so directing and redirecting the ignitedgases and products of combustion through the furnace and around the samethat the efficiency thereof is spent before escaping to the stack,thereby minimizing the fuel consumption and avoiding waste. Y

I n the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a top plan view, partly insection, of a furnace constructed in accordance with my invention, .theportion in section, save the stack,A

tional views taken on lines 4 t and 5 5, re-

outer open sides of the ovens are closed by vertically-sliding doors 6,which bear in the angular columns or ways 7, the latter being inclinedslightly, as are also the outer edges of end walls 8 and 9, whereby thedoors are held in place. The doors are raised and lowered by chains 10,adapted to detachably connect therewith, which at their upper ends aresecured to and adapted to wind on horizontal shafts Il, journaled insuitable bearings 12 on the furnace-crown.' Each of the shafts may berotated by chain gearing 13, depending to crank-wheel le, sustained bythe furnace end wall or by other suitable means. For operating any givendoor the chains 10 therefor are connected thereto, the inactive chainsimply winding and unwinding idly on shaft 11 as it rotates. Thearrangement is preferably such that each door closes a passage-way fortwo of pots 5, being the usual practice in this class of furnaces.

The position or station for each pot is central over a gas-burner I5 inchamber 16 beneath the furnace-floor, with the upwardlyradiating ducts17 extending from said cha-mber and opening through the floor, forming Ya circle of flame-emitting orifices, and with the pot located withinthis circle it is completely enveloped by the burning gas and subjectedto a direct and very intense heat, the volume thereof being regulated byvalve 18 in burner-pipe 15', extending inward from gas-manifold 19,located in longitudinal areaway 20, covered by grating 21.

At one end of the furnace is stack 22, and at said end the upperportions of ovens 2 and 3 communicate through horizontal duct 23,opening centrally through the end wall of each oven at 23.- Openingcentrally at 24 into the front ends ofovens 2 and 3 are vertical chiots25 and 26, respectively, in end wall 8, said ducts communicating attheir lower ends with transverse duct 27 in wall 8, from which eX- tendthe horizontal lines 29 longitudinally beneath the furnace-floor, whichdischarge into the base of stack 22. There are preferably four of theseiiues, two beneath each oven.

, At the front end ofthe furnace is fan or blower 80, of usual or anypreferred design, having its intake-pipe 3l extending from stack 22longitudinally over the furnace and discharging centrally into atransverse pipe 32, opening at its opposite ends into vertical ducts 25and 26, said pipe on opposite sides of the blower being provided withdampers 32' and 32". Beneath pipe 32 ducts 25 and 26 are provided,respectively, with dampers 25 26. The length of the furnace will begoverned by the capacity desired. It may be constructed to receive anydesired number of pots, preferably in multiples of two, in each oven. Inoperation the burners are lighted and adjusted to afford the heatrequisite for each pot; The blower is then started, drawing its supplyfrom stack 22, and, say, with dampers 32l and 26' closed and dampers 32Hand 25 open the blower will discharge across the upper end of duct 26and through opening 24 into the upper portion of oven 3, therebycreating a draft through the latter toward the rear end which dischargesthrough duct 23 into the rear end of oven 2 and through the latterforward or toward its front end in direction reverse to that followed inoven- 3. rlhe impetus thus given the air and ignited gases in passing'through oven 3 is suficient to effect a reversal of the current in oven2 but this tendency is accelerated by the stackdraft drawing' throughfloor-fines 29 and downward through the then open ue 25, leading fromthe front end of oven 2. By closing dampers 32" and 25/ and openingdampers 32 and 26 the operation is reversed, the blower thendischarging' into oven 2 and the draft in oven 3 being toward the frontand emerging through duct 26 and the oor-iiues to the stack. Thus apractically uniform temperature may be maintained in each oven, thedescribed reversal of the valves being made frequent] y and before theheat of either oven far exceeds the other. The heated air and productsof combustion are thus fully utilized and their efficiency spent beforedischarging into the stack. Passage thereof through floor-flues 29 heatsthe floor and maintains the same heated. As the blower draws its supplyfrom near the base of the stack through pipe 3l, said supply consistslargely of heated air and products of combustion which discharge intothe stack from iiues 29, so that the current discharging from the bloweris heated, and hemlce far more eective than though it were co c lVV-hilethe invention as here embodied involves the employment of two ovens,with means for reversing the current in either oven, I do not thusrestrict myself, as in its broader aspect the invention contemplatesmaintaining a draft from end to end of a glassmelting furnace, withmeans for reversing the same, without regard to the number of ovensemployed, and hence the structural arrangement whereby this terial.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1. An improved glass-meltingfurnace comprising two communicating chambers, valved stack and valvedblower connections for each chamber whereby draft may be maintainedalternately in reverse directions through the chambers, and heatingmeans independent of the stack and blower connections.

2.Y An improved glass-melting furnace comprising two chambers incommunication at one point only, valved stack and valved blowerconnections for the non-communicating portion of each chamber wherebydraft may be maintained alternately in reverse direction through thechambers, and heating means independent of the stack and blowerconnections.

3. An improved glass-melting furnace comprising two chambers arrangedside by side and in communication at one end only, valved stack andvalved blower connections for the non communicating end of each chamberwhereby draft may be maintained alternately in reverse directionsthrough the chambers, and heating means independent of the stack andblower connections.

4f. An improved glass-melting furnace comprising two chamberscommunicating at one point only, a single stack and a single blower eachhaving valved connection with the noncommunicating portion of eachchamber whereby draft may be maintained alternately in reversedirections through the chambers, and heating means independent of thestack and blower connections.

5. In a glass-melting furnace, a chamber, valved stack connections foropposite portions of the chamber whereby draft may be maintainedtherethrough alternately in reverse directions, heating means at thebottom of the result is attained isl imma- IOO chamber, and pots adaptedto be removably c positioned in the chamber.

6. In aglass-melting furnace, two chambers in communication at one endonly, a valved stack connection for the opposite end of each chamberwhereby draft may be maintained through the chambers alternately inreverse directions, heating means at the bottom of each chamber, andpots adapted to be removably positioned in the chambers.

7. An improved glass-melting furnace divided by a central wall into twocommunicatingchambers each provided with an outlet, means for creating adraft from either chamber into the other, pots removably positioned inthe chambers, and heating means.

8. An improved glass-melting furnace comprising a chamber, a stack,flues beneath the chamber communicating with different por- IIO IIS

tions thereof and with the stack, means for causing the chamber todischarge into the iiues through either of said points of communication,and heating means.

5 9. An improved giass-meltingfurnace comprising two chambers incommunication at one end, fines beneath the chamber-iioors having valvedcommunication therewith, a stack with which said iiuescommunieate, means-for cre- IO ating a draft in either chamber which ows into and throughthe other chamber and from thence through the floor-lues into the stack,and heating means.

In testimong,7 whereof I aiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

MICHAEL M. MAHER.

Witnesses:

J. C. WOODWARD, ROBERT BARNER.

